Stress
by OnlyANorthernSong
Summary: Wonder Woman ponders about the enigma that is Flash. Took me exactly 20 minutes to write.


Hi everyone I felt like writing because my typing fingers felt restless…it is now 8:14...let's see how long it takes to write this fan fic, alright? As such the plot will be stupid, and unthought out. Let's quit wasting time already, and get to it! I've already written slow, because my fingers are completely out there, and I keep making mistakes. It's still the time it was when I started, but it'll change any second- it just changed! Go!

**Hi, this was written after I timed myself writing...anywho....um...any grammar problem were because I was hurrying...a little test to myself, if you will, lol. So...yea...I'll probably edit it later...?**

**Originally meant for Drabbles and Babbles, or whatever that story is called, but I liked it more as a oneshot, so here it is. As a oneshot. Yep.  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these DC characters...believe it or not, DC does.  
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Flash was never known within the league for his strong wit in anything except snappy comebacks, and even those were never well-thought out, or made cleverly. He was simply, in the eyes of many, an oaf in a red suit, running around and pretending to be a hero, when all he really wants is praise and people to know who he is.

Diana watched him from the corner of her eye, biting her lip. It was a habit she had taken up after reading some books, and watching some Earth television. It seemed to be something humans did when they were upset. Some of them, anyway. But as she watched Flash, she wondered what his tell was. His need to push out feeling of stress and frustration. To the naked eye- at least to hers- it seemed as though he was too innocent to stress- too dumb to realize what he was fighting against, and what the costs might just be.

"Diana?" She turned as she heard Batman address her, and she smiled daintily.

"I'm sorry, Bruce. I was just thinking."

"While staring at me!" Flash said, grinning smugly. Diana glared at him, then rolled her eyes. So he had noticed her eyes stuck to him. Oh, well. It hardly mattered.

"What is it, Bruce?" She continued, looking at the dark-clad man standing before her. He narrowed his eyes, then nodded curtly.

"We were discussing the latest scheme the Joker made. As I was saying, the Joker and his cohort- Harley Quinn- have only recently escaped Gotham, so it may very well be weeks or months until they put their plan into action, but we have to expect a plan."

"Wouldn't they be spontaneous?" Superman- A.K.A Clark Kent- asked, looking warily at Batman. Bruce shrugged.

"Probably, but Joker always does the unexpected, and we're expecting that."

"But now we're expecting him to do the unexpected, which is exactly what we're expecting, so technically-"

"Flash- shut up." Flash timidly grinned.

"Just saying."

"Stop saying. Now, last time he was arrested, he said he'd make us pay. Usually, he's like the Riddler in that something he says can have a double meaning."

"It's like a cross-over of villains," Flash muttered under his breath with a grin. Batman shot him a harsh and cross look, then returned to what he was saying. As before, Wonder Woman drifted, staring at the enigma that was the Flash. He was brash, and coarse, but could there be something beneath the red mask, and beneath the grin? After the Thanagarian crisis, they'd learned each other's identities, but just as that hadn't immediately made Bruce fall in love with her- despite their passionate kiss in that restaurant- so had it not suddenly shed light on who and what the Flash was.

"Yo, Di!" Wonder Woman snapped out of whatever daze she had been in to see Flash- or rather, Wally- looking at her worriedly. "I know I'm the cutest guy in this room, but that's no reason to be staring at me. Bats seemed seriously pissed." Diana blushed.

"Oh. Sorry. I wasn't staring at you, though, I was thi-"

"Save it, Princess. Just give me your two cents." Diana raised her eyebrows, then crinkled her forehead in confusion.

"What?"

"Your two cents-" Flash shook his head, but more in amusement then in frustration. "Gee, Di, sometimes I forget. I meant, what are you thinking."

"Stuff," Diana answered vaguely. "Just stuff."

"Well, if you're looking at me while you're thinking it, it's gotta be good." Flash grinned disarmingly, then followed her as she left the meeting room. "C'mon, seriously, I wanna know what's on your mind." Diana looked up.

"A tiara. It's something th-"

"I meant what you're thinking."

"Oh." Diana scowled. "Then you should stop using those ancedotes, or euphimisms or whatever it is you're using." Flash grinned.

"Noted. So…?"

"Fine. I was just wondering how you manage." It was his turn to look confused.

"Huh? How I manage?"

"Yes," She said impatiently, embarrassed that she had been found out. "You know. Being a hero. How do you get by?" He still seemed confused. "Some people bite their lips, some people pace-" Flash laughed.

"If I paced, there'd be quite a problem with the floor, princess." Diana smiled slightly.

"I know. I was just curious."

"I get it," Flash said, smiling. "Thanks." She nodded, but, as he began to walk away, called out timidly,

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"What is it? Your way to pass it? I mean, Superman has- well, I don't know what he has, either. Maybe running. And I know that's what you do, but I also know that when you run- yes, you do it to help people, and you have fun with it, but it's not your way of releasing…what is your…thing….Batman has fighting, Hawkgirl has fighting…Hades, I think everyone else on the team releases anger and stress through violence. But you don't seem the type."

"I'm not," Flash answered with a shrug.

"Then what? Why are you as you? How can you be so easy-going? So humorous? So…completely content with how the Earth is run?"

"I'm not, Princess," Flash answered. "That's why I'm a hero. To try and change things. I know I won't do much damage on the whole crime syndicate the world, or even Central, has, but hey, a guy has to try, doesn't he?"

"You fight out of a belief that it's your duty?" Diana asked. He shook his head.

"No way. I love saving people, and like you said before, I love running. I love leaping in when there seems to be no hope, jumping through the flames, grabbing the people, leaving them outside of what was going to be their end- you know? Taking them from a house swallowed by fire, a building that's falling down, or just from the arms of some person with problems."

"I don't get it."

"I like what I do," Wally summed up, smiling grandiosely.

"I understand that." Diana replied with a coy smile. "What I meant was, how do you get by? You can't possibly save everyone from their burning homes, or their buildings falling, or from that person holding them hostage…how do you cope when you don't manage?"

"What-?"

"How do you laugh?" Diana asked, angrily, determination shining in her glossy blue orbs. "How?" Wally smiled sincerely.

"Just like that, Di. You know what they say about medicine."

"No." Diana answered, looking at him squarely. "I don't."

"Ask Supes about it, or something. I don't take advil or anything…that doesn't take away the kind of pain I sometimes feel. The world isn't perfect, Di, but I'd love it if it were."

"I don't get it. Still."

"I know…" He sighed. "I'm not explaining it right, maybe." He looked, for real, quite strained, and his normal smile was gone, replaced by a tight frown. "I just can't say it…right, I mean. I don't know." Diana nodded.

"It's fine, Flash. I did not mean to pry into whatever your mind holds. I'm sorry." The grin was back.

"It's no problem, Di." He zipped away, and Diana sighed, then walked. She first ran into Bruce. Looking up at him with wide eyes, she whispered,

"What's the best medicine?"

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I know that sucked…but hey, 8:34... I know, it took long, but I didn't have a plan for the story when I started. I literally started writing, and there you go. Exactly 20 minutes. SUCKISH!


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